It’s summer and it’s Melbourne, one of the greatest cities on earth for live music so it goes without saying that there are tons of gigs and festivals to go to if you’re a music fan. But with more gigs being 18+ these days, what are you going to do if you ‘re a music loving youngster? Push Over 2012, Melbourne’s greatest all ages event, that’s what.
Held this year on labour day at the fantastic Abbostford Convent, it’s a no smoking, no drinking all-ages event put on solely so that underagers can have an awesome day of live music without having to worry about being hassled by bouncers or being trodden on by drunken adults. With a ton of local and established acts, plus MC and breakdance competitions across four stages, it’s worth saving your pocket money for.
Unfortunately with so many great acts and just one reviewer, I’m unable to cover everything so I’ll highlight some of the stuff I did catch.
Yacht Club DJs got the party warmed up in the afternoon, playing a mash-up mix that would have 2 Many DJ’s getting worried, throwing all your favourite party anthems from just about every conceivable genre into the mix . Guns N’Roses mixed into Run DMC into Nirvana into LMFAO. Sounds mad but it works perfectly.
Over at the green stage, local bruisers Brooklyn destroyed the place with a set of destructive metal-core full of monstrous breakdowns and high octane thrashing, while back at the main stage Dangerous got kicked out a rocking set of dirty punk’n’roll.
Sydney’s Tonight Alive played drew in an impressive crowd straight after, getting the crowd singing along to their anthemic pop-punk, and inciting the first circle pit of the day with their beefed up version of Mumford and Sons’ Little Lion Man.
I was really looking forward to seeing what all the fuss was about with 360, however I was disappointed. I was expecting some intelligent yet rousing hip hop but instead I got 20 minutes of cheesy, commercial electro-pop with a bit of rapping. It’s a good job he was wearing shades as you could have seen the dollar signs in his eyes. The crowd seemed to like it though.
Judging by the number of T-shirts, in the crowd there was no doubt who most people came to see. And my, did Parkway Drive deliver. The “No Moshing or Crowdsurfing” signs were thoroughly ignored throughout their crushing set of brutal metal-core. Circle-pits erupted and arms flailed throughout their entire set, with Sleepwalker and set-closer Carrion sounding especially devastating. A stunning end to an altogether fun day out for underagers.
BY ADAM ROBERTSHAW
LOVED: Parkway Drive.
HATED: The fact that 360 has unashamedly sold out.
DRANK: Water.
